[Escape Artist]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Not sure if you know this, but the one-room schoolhouse has been replaced. Nowadays, kids have to walk through hallways to get from one class to the other. In some schools, they have lockers all along the walls, where you might see 5-6 kids all standing shoulder-to-shoulder to try and get their books in and out, pick up their gym clothes, grab their lunch from the shelf, etc.

In addition, the desks are close enough within the classrooms that school-origin flu and cold is (and has always been) a thing. When one kid gets mono, the whole class gets mono. When one kid comes down with the flu, the whole class comes down with it.

That's because of a virus being passed through droplets from their nose and mouth, shooting through the air and landing either on someone's hand, or in their eyes, nose, mouth. A single sneeze while the kids stand up when the bell rings for the next class, can hit 1, 2, 3, even 4 kids who are all in the process of turning to reach for their books, or grab their sweater, or crowding near the doorway on the way out, etc. etc. etc.

One person needs to sneeze - that's all it takes. Just one person infected with COVID-19, with a little dust in their nose - to infect a few dozen kids out of a school full of them. And each of THOSE kids - has the potential to continue the spread once the infection gets into their system and becomes contagious.

Masking isn't guaranteed to keep every kid in school from getting sick. But it will REDUCE THE RISK. It reduces the risk, it's safe, it's inexpensive, and it's nothing more than a minor inconvenience MOSTLY to adults. Kids tend to be fine with the idea of masking, as long as their parents don't teach them that they should have a problem with it.

Teach your kids fear, and they'll be afraid. Teach them that this is just part of their school uniform, and they'll come up with inventive ways to comply. Maybe a "decorate your own mask" project at home, for the cloth masks with the paper filters inside them.

This isn't even an issue in some parts of the country. Kids just wear the masks, they don't make a fuss over it, it doesn't bother them in the least, it doesn't prevent them from learning, or socializing. It's no different to them from wearing gloves when it's cold outside.

I don't even like wearing a mask at the grocery store for an hour so I can't imagine having to wear one all day long. It's unnatural to have half your face covered! Don't you realize that? The harm it does to a child is far worse than possibly getting Covid or being a spreader.

Why not concentrate on masking the adults, teachers and administration, whether they're vaccinated or not? That's what everyone is really worried about, right? Not the kids, but that adults might get it and become ill or whatever it is so many people are cowering in fear over.